The new Cat AFC has been delivered to the Datong Coal Mine Group (Tongmei) for use in the Dongzhouyao mine in Shanxi Province. Datong is the third largest state-owned coal mining enterprise in China. Tongmei Group, the parent of Datong, first acquired an AFC in 2004 from the company that is now Cat Tongmei is the largest AFC customer globally for Caterpillar. The new AFC system marks the 39th delivered to Chinese mines by Caterpillar and its predecessors in the longwall equipment line.
The new AFC system is designed for longwall top coal caving (LTCC) to mine a coal seam as thick as 8 m. Face length will be 260 m. The LTCC mining method enables recovering thick seams economically by cutting the lower portion of the seam as is normally done and then recovering coal that caves as the face moves forward.
The premium AFC is composed of Cat PF6 line pans. The innovative modular design separates wear-resistant hardened steel parts and the substructure made of high-strength steel. The design enables easy replacement of wear parts without damaging the substructure. The front AFC has transport capacity of 2,500 metric tons per hour (mtph), and the rear AFC has capacity of 3,000 mtph. Each of the conveyors has total installed power of 2 x 1,050 kW.
